Whew, just for the record, being told that "The House of the Earth" is well-balanced is a compliment indeed, because I've never worried about it so much with a story and I never feel confident it did work there. My beta and I got into quite a few scraps over that--he was always right about where I needed to calibrate, so it worked out for the best in the end, I think. :)
That as much as Clark doesn't want to be a negative role model, he has no idea how to live a positive life.
I wonder how much of that is because, despite my attempts to leave the more toxic aspects of professional wrestling out, the deeply-entrenched homophobia of the whole business tends to seep through? I have to agree with your assessment that this is a Clark who's never really let himself think about the fact that he could have a happy domestic life with another man. I've had people suspect he's so aloof because he fears Bruce will just push him away, but that's coming from an awareness of it as a trope from other canon-based stories, he has no reason to fear that in this world. I'm wondering if this series is going to have to call for the big public outing--not usually a scene I like to write, but this Clark and Bruce might need it, I don't know.
Like, Clark thinks his relationship with Bruce is another level of kayfabe.
It's funny you say that--that's the exact phrase my beta used as well, that both Clark and Bruce are struggling in different ways with a fear that their relationship is somehow false in the mind and heart of the other, and it's causing a real disconnect. I know when and what's going to get them past that, but it's been a challenge to puzzle out the different reasons for it beforehand...
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That as much as Clark doesn't want to be a negative role model, he has no idea how to live a positive life.
I wonder how much of that is because, despite my attempts to leave the more toxic aspects of professional wrestling out, the deeply-entrenched homophobia of the whole business tends to seep through? I have to agree with your assessment that this is a Clark who's never really let himself think about the fact that he could have a happy domestic life with another man. I've had people suspect he's so aloof because he fears Bruce will just push him away, but that's coming from an awareness of it as a trope from other canon-based stories, he has no reason to fear that in this world. I'm wondering if this series is going to have to call for the big public outing--not usually a scene I like to write, but this Clark and Bruce might need it, I don't know.
Like, Clark thinks his relationship with Bruce is another level of kayfabe.
It's funny you say that--that's the exact phrase my beta used as well, that both Clark and Bruce are struggling in different ways with a fear that their relationship is somehow false in the mind and heart of the other, and it's causing a real disconnect. I know when and what's going to get them past that, but it's been a challenge to puzzle out the different reasons for it beforehand...